USN-1762-1: APT vulnerability

Publication date

14 March 2013

Overview

An attacker could trick APT into installing altered packages.


Packages

  • apt - Advanced front-end for dpkg

Details

Ansgar Burchardt discovered that APT incorrectly handled InRelease files.
If a remote attacker were able to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack, this
flaw could potentially be used to install altered packages.

This update corrects the issue by disabling InRelease file support
completely. Please note that this update breaks third-party repositories
that provide only a InRelease file and no separate Release and Release.gpg
files. The default Ubuntu repositories do not use InRelease files.

Ansgar Burchardt discovered that APT incorrectly handled InRelease files.
If a remote attacker were able to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack, this
flaw could potentially be used to install altered packages.

This update corrects the issue by disabling InRelease file support
completely. Please note that this update breaks third-party repositories
that provide only a InRelease file and no separate Release and Release.gpg
files. The default Ubuntu repositories do not use InRelease files.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
12.10 quantal apt –  0.9.7.5ubuntu5.4
12.04 precise apt –  0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10
11.10 oneiric apt –  0.8.16~exp5ubuntu13.7

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